Can someone tell me what happened in these photos?

[aerocontrols]

Is this just frozen spray off of the ocean? Or are these images photoshopped?

click (http://controls.ae.gatech.edu/people/mjohnson/Interests/ice/ice.htm)

[Jeff Corey]

It looks real to me. Where were they taken?

[Brown]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/icestorm.asp

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey
It looks real to me. Where were they taken?

Your guess is as good as mine. The filenames (un_geneva-#.jpg) are the best clue. The cars and architecture give some info. (I got these photos via an officemate who showed them to me. He got them via a forwarded e-mail, whose only text was "be careful where you park" in Turkish)

Does Geneva, Switzerland have a nice big river running through it?

[IIRichard]

Originally posted by aerocontrols
Is this just frozen spray off of the ocean? Or are these images photoshopped?

click (http://controls.ae.gatech.edu/people/mjohnson/Interests/ice/ice.htm)

The photos are real but without proper context. I saw them several weeks ago but don't remember where. They were taken next to a lake in Switzerland. The cars etc. are near the lake and got covered with wind blown water. The buildings fronting the lake, not shown in those pics, were fine. You can see this sort of thing around the great lakes.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by Brown
http://www.snopes.com/photos/natural/icestorm.asp

Thanks :)

Now for an explanation of my pictures...

not freezing rain (no ice on the tops of the trees, no ice on the buildings across the road)

Spray off of the lake, then? Or that broken water main?

[edthedoc]

It's definately wind-blown water off a lake near Geneva. Fresh water freezes more easily than salt water.

It's it wonderful what real genuine non-woo-woo nature can do.

[rppa]

There doesn't seem to be anything unusual in the pattern or thickness of the ice patterns. The first picture with the slanted icicles shows that there was considerable wind present when the ice was forming, which would have added to the amount of spray.

The Snopes link is the clincher, but even without that I'm not sure what struck you as so unbelievable about these.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by rppa
There doesn't seem to be anything unusual in the pattern or thickness of the ice patterns. The first picture with the slanted icicles shows that there was considerable wind present when the ice was forming, which would have added to the amount of spray.

The Snopes link is the clincher, but even without that I'm not sure what struck you as so unbelievable about these.

What bothered me was the lack of ice on the other side of the street. I'm still amazed by how much ice is formed on one side of the street vs. the other.

MattJ

[rppa]

Originally posted by aerocontrols
What bothered me was the lack of ice on the other side of the street. I'm still amazed by how much ice is formed on one side of the street vs. the other.

MattJ

I guess I see what you're talking about. Another clue that what we're looking at is frozen spray that had a fairly specific pattern. The fact that the ice looked more like cave formations than a uniform coating also told me it wasn't freezing rain.

I've seen some very impressive ice formations around leaking water fountains and garden hoses.

Ever been through an ice storm that left an inch or two of completely smooth ice on top of EVERYTHING? You learn very quickly how important friction is when you try to do the most trivial things. In one such storm, as I coasted flat on my back at an ever-increasing rate down the steep sidewalk, completely unable to slow my motion, I began wondering what exactly I was going to do when I hit the approaching traffic intersection...

I feel for these poor car owners. Normally my trick for clearing the car on cold mornings is to fight my way in, start the heater, and then clear off the outside as the car warms up over 0 C. That wouldn't work here, since you couldn't get in in the first place.

[aerocontrols]

Originally posted by rppa
I feel for these poor car owners. Normally my trick for clearing the car on cold mornings is to fight my way in, start the heater, and then clear off the outside as the car warms up over 0 C. That wouldn't work here, since you couldn't get in in the first place.

Some cars have remote start. I wonder if the cars in these pictures could get enough oxygen to keep running, assuming you could get them started...

Yeah, I've seen lots of freezing rain ice storms, but being originally from Kansas, we don't have so much of a problem with hills ;)

[patcall]

If you have ever seen photos of Great Lake ships in the winter, you would understand how much ice can accumulate on ships also.

http://www.mhsd.org/photogallery/CasonJCallawayDec66-tn.jpg

[Bodhi Dharma Zen]

Incredible pictures, but I wonder, what kind of temperature can do that? Freezing that amount of water at that speed seems really weird.

[Ziggurat]

It probably took an overnight storm to build up that much ice. The air wouldn't have to be much below freezeing, but with whipping winds driving waves against the shore, spray from the waves will freeze quickly after landing.

[Soapy Sam]

Originally posted by Bodhi Dharma Zen
Incredible pictures, but I wonder, what kind of temperature can do that? Freezing that amount of water at that speed seems really weird.

Har! Not at all wierd. If they would let me bring my camera I could show uou some serious ice in the Caspian.

I've only been to Geneva in summer. Surely they turn that fountain off in winter?

[materia3]

Originally posted by edthedoc
It's definately wind-blown water off a lake near Geneva. Fresh water freezes more easily than salt water.

It's it wonderful what real genuine non-woo-woo nature can do.

Yup. It's called Lake Geneva........

[Deetee]

Lake Geneva has a blddy great fountain, the spray from which regularly blows onshore - I know - I've got soaked walking down what I assume is the same street seen on these pics - it was summer tho.

I assume its just frozen spray, which explains the lack of ice further "inshore".

Can't find a better pic at the moment....

[Rolfe]

Originally posted by materia3
Yup. It's called Lake Geneva........ Unless you actually live there, when it's called Lac Léman. :D

Rolfe.